Elevator



G. O. WRIGHT ELEVATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1937 Jan. 24, 1939.

v e. o. WRIGHT 7 2,145,066

ELE VATO R 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1937 Patented Jan. 24, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE.

Application November 8, 1937, Serial No. 173,418

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an elevator.

An object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed specially designed for elevating, gripping and holding or 5turning, round objects as sections of pipe.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an elevator of thecharacter described which may be readily applied to a section of pipefor elevating the same and for lowering the section being handled intothe rat hole adjacent a well drilling rig.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus of thecharacter described whereby the section of pipe in the rat hole may begripped and held against turning while an additional section, such as agrief joint, is being screwed into the coupling at the upper end of thesection so' being held. It is another object of the invention to provide20 a pipe handling appliance of the character described which willengage, grip, and hold pipe sections of different diameters.

It is a further object of the invention to'provide, in a pipe handlingapparatus of this char- 25 actor, a novel type of pipe gripping jaw.

The invention also comprehends the combination of a novel type ofelevator and a novel type of rat hole casing whereby theattachment ofthe grief joint to the section in the rate hole may 30 be facilitated.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particularrelation to certain novel features of construction, operation andarrangement of parts, an example of which is given in 35 thisspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the elevator.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

40 Figure 3 shows a sectionalview of the elevator body taken on the line3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a fragmentary, sectional View of the upper end of the rathole casing, and

Figure 5 shows a fragmentary, side view of a 45 well drilling rigshowing the elevator mounted on the rat hole casing, said casing beingshown in section.

Referring now more-particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals ofreference designate 50 the same parts in each of the figures, thenumeral I designates the elevator body which is apprximately circularand whose upper end has the outwardly extending flange 2. At one sidethe elevator body has a deep slot 3 and is provided 55 with theoutwardly extended parallel lugs 4, 4

on opposite sides of said slot, said lugs forming anchors for thetransverse pin 5.

On opposite sides of the slot 3 the body is slightly elevated orthickened vertically and has the downwardly and inwardly tapering faces6, 6. Opposite the slot 3 and countersunk into the inside of the body Iand the top of the flange 2 there is a stationary pipe gripping jaw 1having the inside toothed arcuate face 8. This jaw is secured to theflange 2 by a suitable set bolt 9.

There is a lifting lever I0 between the lugs 4 and extended through theslot 3. This lever has the upstanding grip l I thereon and its outer endis formed into an eye I2 for the attachment thereto of a cable l6 whichoperates over the crown block (not shown) of the derrick and is operatedfrom the cat head l1.

The inner end of the lever I0 is extended laterally each way forming ahead 13 which has the tapering faces It! to coact with the taperingfaces 6. This head has the diverging prongs 20,

20 forming guides for centering a pipe section as 2| therein. Theforward, or inner side of the head has the cylindrical sockets 22, 22extending downwardly from the upper side of the head 25 but notextending entirely through the head. Pipe grips 23,23 are in thesesockets. These grips have approximately cylindrical tenons 24, 24 whichconform in shape to and are fitted in the cylindrical sockets 22 tofreely turn about their axes. These tenons are retained in place by across-strap 25 which abuts their upper ends and which is secured to thehead by the set bolts The grips project forwardly from the head and areformed with the flared gripping jaws 2'! whose outer margins areserrated having the grip teeth 28. The points of these teeth lieapproximately in planes which are at right angles to the radial lines ofthe respective tenons 24.

The sections of the drill stem, or other pipe to be lowered into a well,are usually located in approximately horizontal position on a pipe rackadjacent the derrick. These sections may be swung, one at a time, by theelevator and lowered into the rate hole 29 having the rate hole casing30 therein. The upper end of this casing 30 has a wide notch 3| therein,said notch being somewhat wider than the overall width of the lugs 4 fora reason to be hereinafter stated.

When it is desired to locate a section as 2|, of the pipe in the rathole, in readiness for the attachment of the grief joint thereto, theelevator may be swung over to the pipe rack and passed over the tooljoint box member, or coupling, 32

on the upper end of said section. The lever It should be swung around,on the pin 5 to carry the head l8 out of the way of said coupling topermit the body to be passed over the coupling and said lever may thenbe swung back into the position shown in Figure 2 to carry the head backinto the body as shown in Figure 2 with the grips 23 in engagement withthe pipe section 2|. When so swung back into said position the head willmove inwardly, the sloping faces l9 riding downwardly against theinwardly declining, sloping faces 6 until the pipe is securely grippedbetweenthe grip and the grips 23. To permit this freedom of movement ofthe head IS the opening 33 through the lever l which. receives the pinis somewhat larger than said pin as is clearly shown in Figure 2. Theelevator and section of pipe engaged thereby may then be elevated by thecat line, or cable, IS in the usual way and swung over and the pipesection lowered into the rat hole. The body will enter the upper end ofthe casing 30 and the lugs 4, 4, will enter the slot 3| and the elevatorflange 2 will land on the top of the casing 30.

When, in the process of drilling, an additional section must be added tothe upper end of the drill pipe 34 in the well, the grief joint (notshown) may be broken out, or unscrewed, from the drill pipe 34 and swungover and its lower end screwed into the tool joint member 32 byappliances commonly used about a well drilling rig for that purpose.

As the grief pipe is screwed into the box member 32 the jaw I and thegrips 23 will securely grip and hold the section 2| against turning, thetenons 24 pivoting about their axes. As the tenons pivot it is obviousthat the outer teeth 28 of one jaw 21 and the inner teeth 28 of theother jaw 21 will move slightly inwardly toward the axis of the bodysecurely gripping the section 2| to hold it against turning. Thismovement of the gripping jaws 21 and the inward range of movement of thehead l8, above referred to, permits pipes or other round objects ofvarying diameters to be securely gripped and held by the elevator.

When the grief joint has been connected to the drill stem section 2| thejoint and section may be elevated and swung over the drill stem 34 andattached thereto and the drill stem then lowered until the grief jointis in position to be engaged by the conventional bushing of the rotarytable 35 and drilling proceeded with.

It sometimes happens that the threads of the grief joint cannot bescrewed fully home in the tool joint box member 32 by the ordinarymethod. In such a case the handle H] of the elevator may be pulledaround to the left until one of the lugs 4 engages the opposing side ofthe slot 3| and a sudden torsional stress may be then imparted to thegrief joint causing the section 2| and the elevator to suddenly turnuntil the other lug 4 strikes the opposite side of the slot 3| and thismay be repeated if necessaryuntil the jar, or repeated jars, cause thethreads to fully make up.

The elevator may be used for holding one section of pipe whileunscrewing another section therefrom in which event the grips 23 willoperate in the reverse manner to that hereinabove described.

The drawings and description disclose what is now considered to be apreferred form of the invention by way of illustration only, while thebroad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is I. An elevator comprising a body having an openingtherethrough and having an inside tapering bearing face, fixed engagingmeans at one side of the opening, a carrier pivotally mounted on thehead and having a downwardly and inwardly tapering bearing face, saidcarrier being movable into active and inactive positions and the bearingfaces being arranged to co-act when the carrier is in said activeposition and engaging means on the carrier.

2. An elevator comprising an annular body having an opening therethroughto receive a pipe, a pipe engaging jaw on one side of the body, saidbody having a slot opposite the jaw and downwardly and inwardly insidetapering faces on the opposite sides of the slot, outwardly extendedlugs on opposite sides of the slot, a lever pivotally mounted betweenthe lugs, a head on the inner end of the lever forming a carrier, saidhead hav ing tapering faces which co-act with the faces of the carrierand having inwardly extended guide prongs and pivotally mounted pipeengaging means on the carrier between the prongs.

3. An elevator comprising an approximately annular body having a slot atone side and outwardly extended lugs on opposite sides of the slot, apipe engaging jaw in the body opposite the slot, a lever extendedthrough the slot and loosely pivoted between the lugs, a head on theinner end of the lever forming a carrier, said head and body havingcooperating downwardly and inwardly tapering faces, a plurality of pipeengaging jaws on the carrier opposite the fixed jaw.

4. An elevator comprising an approximately circular body having anopening therethrough to receive a pipe to be elevated, said body havinga side slot and having inside, downwardly and inwardly tapering faces onopposite sides of the slot, outwardly extended lugs on opposite sides ofthe slot,a lever pivotally mounted between the lugs, said lever beingmounted loosely to permit a radial movement thereof relative to the axisof its pivotal mounting, a head on the inner end of the lever forming acarrier and having tapering faces which co-act with the faces of thebody to cause the head to wedge tightly against the pipe upon upwardmovement of the elevator.

GEORGE o. WRIGHT.

